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Free Screening! L.A. Premiere!
"This true story of a Japanese reality TV star left naked in a room for more than a year, tasked with filling out magazine sweepstakes to earn food and clothing, prompts innumerable questions about our culture of oversharing.
Before the onslaught of reality television in the West, there was an ominous harbinger in Japan of what was to come in our oversharing-obsessed culture. THE CONTESTANT traces the experience of aspiring comedian Tomoaki Hamatsu, nicknamed Nasubi, who unwittingly became an extreme case study. While parts of Nasubi’s infamy have been recounted before on YouTube and This American Life, filmmaker Clair Titley and producer Megumi Inman bring a revelatory depth of insight by interviewing Nasubi, Tsuchiya, and others close to them."
Free Screening! L.A. Premiere!
"This true story of a Japanese reality TV star left naked in a room for more than a year, tasked with filling out magazine sweepstakes to earn food and clothing, prompts innumerable questions about our culture of oversharing.
Before the onslaught of reality television in the West, there was an ominous harbinger in Japan of what was to come in our oversharing-obsessed culture. THE CONTESTANT traces the experience of aspiring comedian Tomoaki Hamatsu, nicknamed Nasubi, who unwittingly became an extreme case study. While parts of Nasubi’s infamy have been recounted before on YouTube and This American Life, filmmaker Clair Titley and producer Megumi Inman bring a revelatory depth of insight by interviewing Nasubi, Tsuchiya, and others close to them."